Influence of Zirconium Doped Titanium Oxide towards Photocatalytic Activity of Paraquat

Abstract:

The heterogeneous photocatalyst based on titanium dioxide has been widely investigated as an attractive treatment method for water pollution. Herbicide like paraquat dichloride is one of the toxic organic pollutants which is harmful to human and animal and is still being used in agricultural sectors. TiO₂ doped with zirconium element has been proven to enhance the photocatalytic activity of TiO₂ from the previous study. Therefore in this study, photodegradation of paraquat dichloride (1,1-dimethyl-4,4’-bipyridylium dichloride) under UV irradiation was studied using TiO₂ and Zr doped TiO₂ prepared via modified sol gel method as photocatalysts. The photocatalytic activity was increased in the presence of zirconium as dopant compared to TiO₂. Various calcination temperatures range from 450°C to 1000°C and dopant ratio (10:90, 20:80 and 30:70) were applied to optimize the working condition. Significant enhancement was obtained using Zr doped TiO₂ (20:80) calcined at 750°C which gave 79.63% degradation of paraquat compared to TiO₂ calcined at 450°C and 750°C which were 22.31% and 11.57%. X-ray diffraction (XRD) diffratogram of Zr doped TiO₂ photocatalyst showed a mixture of anatase/rutile TiO₂ crystalline structures at 750°C. Nanosized photocatalyst with spherical morphology was observed by Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM). The surface area measured by nitrogen adsorption analysis showed an increment from 8.43m²/g to 46.35m²/g compared to undoped catalyst calcined at 450°C.

• Periodical: Advanced Materials Research (Volume 1107)
• Pages: 377-382
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.1107.377
• Online since: June 2015
• Authors: Nur Afiqah Badli, Rusmidah Ali*, Leny Yuliati
• Keywords: Photocatalytic Degradation, Sol-Gel Method, Titanium Dioxide, Zirconium

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